Online Electronics Course

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:25 pm

Hi guys.... I was wondering if any of you would be interested in taking electronics courses over the internet.

I have a few people interested but I haven't put together the course outline and notes yet.

What I was thinking about was sending out course notes over email.

There would be a small fee involved.... I was thinking $5 per course and I would answer questions via email.

Basicly I'd start off with basic electronics theory.... such as Voltage, current and resistance and then move into other areas such as amplifier theory, digital theory, and finally automotive electronics theory.

If your wondering what qualifications I have......

I graduated from Electronics Engineering Technology from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

I had mid nineties grades first year and high eighties in the second year. ( I got lazy )

I also took Petroleum Engineering at the Universtity of Alberta but I didn't finish my Engineering degree (was bored of Petroleum Engineering)

I have 8 years of Electronics repair and manufacturing experience and I spend my spare time doing Research and Development into "next generation" radiation detection technology.

I've taught electronics before so I'm very good at getting people to understand electricity and electronics.

I will end up putting a listing for these courses into the classified section for those who are interested.

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:39 pm

Here is a very quick example of the kind of teaching I offer.

To imagine how electricity works I want you to think about water.

The voltage generator (such as an alternator) is like a water pump.

So imagine a water pump trying to push water through a small hole (which causes a restriction)

The amount of water flowing as well as the back pressure depend on the size of the hole that is causing a resistance to the water pressure exerted by the pump.

Now to take that into electronics you can imagine a simple resistor as the "water restriction" ..... the larger the resistance the less flow you have.

In the case of electronics Current (measured in Amperes) is this flow.

The primary formula for electronics is that Voltage equals Current multiplied by Resistance.

V = I * R

If you have a resistor of a particular size and you increase the voltage you will get more current.

If you think of this in water.... if you increase the size of the pump it can create more pressure and push more water through a restrictive hole.

On the other hand if you decrease the resistance (which is like making the restrictive hole larger) you will get more current (flow) of electrons/water.

Most people into stereos know enough about speakers to know that if you wire two 4 ohm speakers in parallel the amplifier will see 2 ohms of resistance.

So taking that to a water example.... if you have two holes of equal size and add them in parallel it will allow the water to flow through both holes which exactly doubles the amount of flow going through the lines.

So by putting two resistive elements in parallel you effectively decrease the total resistance and increase the amount of current (flow)

Now if you take two 4ohm speakers and put them in series the total resistance will rise to 8 ohms.

Imagine this in water as putting one restriction after another.... so the flow through the first one is restricted a second time as it goes through the other restriction.

So equivilently this would be like making a single hole that is half the size of the original two (which increases resistance) and decreases the amount of Current (flow) going through the lines.

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:40 pm

So this was a very very quick example of electronics theory explaining the relationship of voltage, current and resistance..... as well as a little bit of theory about parallel and series circuits.

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 10:41 pm

Please see the section in the classifieds for questions or comments.

Thanks,

Chris

Post by **Efratech** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:15 pm

i just made this post *sticky*

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 10:28 pm

Hmmmm..... no interest at all so far

..... doesn't anyone want to learn about electronics so that they can repair/test/modify their car's electronics?

DomWoo · Post by **DomWoo** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 4:27 am

i would love to do this and learn all this wonderfull stuff about electronics but time is against me and it doesnt look like ill be winning any time soon

i have always played with electronics ever sence i was a kid, taking apart everything and seening how it worked and making other stuff out of it

wish i had the time because i would take you up on it, maybe i still will, i will have to see how things go these next few months with the turbo install and the new suspension and body work i am trying to find time for...

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 10:47 pm

The courses would be more like simplified notes.... basicly I would email you all the information and it would be up to you to go through it at your own pace.

Then if you have questions about anything you can just email me and I will help you understand.

Most people have a very basic knowledge of how to hook up wires but what I really want to teach is the art of hacking the ECU..... which when you feed the ECU what ever signal data you want so that it produces the desired effects.

For example.... Instead of using a rising rate fuel pressure regulator you could use the MAP sensor voltage to change the voltage coming off the 02 sensor as it enters the ECU.

This way you could fool the ECU into thinking it needs to add more fuel so it increases the pulse width of the injector.

Most of what I'm thinking about revolves around turboing a naturally aspirated vehicle without spending money for ignition boost retard circuitry or rising rate fuel pressure regulators.

SinDromX · Post by **SinDromX** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 3:41 am

I would be interested in taking these courses but, i'm afraid i won't be able to pay for this. Even if it looks great.

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 12:44 am

You have trouble coming up with $5 per course????

How can you afford to run your car?

I'm basicly doing this for free..... because I like to teach..... the courses I'm offering are like those you would take in a technical institute.... which would cost you several thousand dollars.

I don't need the money... I'm a partner in a very sucessfull oilfield manufacturing business ... I just thought it would be nice to make a little cash to offset the cost of my sponsorship of this site.

I'm taking this off "sticky" due to lack of interest. (plus I don't like seeing it up here at the top all the time )

Tim04 · Post by **Tim04** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 5:52 am

I think you should keep the sticky up my friend!

There are constantly new members joining. You never know who would benefit from your knowledge.

Without a sticky it may be difficult for them to find this thread. I, myself will make no excuses about not taking your course. I have the money, I'm just not fully interested yet.

Please don't use me as an example of the spirit of the forum here. I'm sure many others would appreciate your generosity and hop on board.

Taking the sticky down limits the chances of that occuring.

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:47 pm

It's not worth my time to do the course for one guy.... it would involve me investing several hundred hours per course (setting up notes, videos ect).

So if I don't have at least a dozen people interested it would be a waist of my time.

The post will go to the bottom of the list and I might update it and bring it up to the top a couple times a year just to see if there is any interest.

I'm still confused why people who are so interested in cars have so little interest in electronics. (since the electronics make up about 50% of the car's drivetrain system )

Perhaps there are interested people but they don't think I'm qualified to teach electronics.... I don't know.... I thought I made it pretty clear that I was in the top of my class (as in high 90's average) at a technical institute that would be similar to something like MIT.

john80 · Post by **john80** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:05 pm

i would like to just tell me how

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:43 am

john80 wrote:i would like to just tell me how

I'm not understanding what your asking.... tell you how to what?

Brian5475E · Post by **Brian5475E** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 1:53 am

I think he is saying tell him how to mod the ECU or other electronics, instead of teaching electronics